U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,801,451 and 4,963,491 disclose a mixture of exo- and endopeptidases isolated from Antarctic krill (Euphasia superba) and the use of this mixture as a cleaning solution. U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,451 discloses the use of such enzymes to remove foreign matter and dead tissue from wounds. International patent application WO 85/04809 discloses the use of krill enzymes as a digestion promoting agent. EP-A1-0170115 discloses the use of krill enzymes to dissolve blood clots.
However, all of these references disclose impure or poorly characterized materials. A purified peptidase or mixture of purified peptidases is desirable to provide a pharmaceutically useful product. Furthermore, no disclosure is found wherein a purified peptidase or mixture of purified peptidases is useful for treating e.g. arthritis, inflamed joints, bursitis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, septic arthritis, phlebitis, eczema, rash, psoriasis or infectious diseases.
International patent application WO 96/24371 discloses the use of a krill-derived multifunctional proteolytic enzyme and a family of crustacean and fish derived proteolytic enzymes having substantial structural similarity to the multifunctional enzyme derived from Antarctic krill. This application also relates to methods of purifying the multifunctional enzyme and to pharmaceutical, cosmetic and other uses of the multifunctional enzyme. Substantial structural similarity to the multifunctional enzyme derived from Antarctic krill is defined in that application as at least 70% homology with the krill derived proteinase. The cod derived trypsin and chymotrypsin as disclosed herein have less than 70% homology with the krill derived multifunctional enzyme. Additionally, the cod derived trypsins and chymotrypsins are not multifunctional enzymes.
A major objective of the present invention is to provide the use of the cod derived trypsins and chymotrypsins in pharmaceutical compositions or medicaments for local and topical application to treat internal diseases and disorders and cosmetic use of such enzymes. Another objective of the present invention is the use of the cod derived trypsins and chymotrypsins for use in pharmaceutical compositions or medicaments for the transport of other proteineous or non-proteineous active compounds through the skin for local and topical application to treat internal diseases and disorders. It has been found that such serine proteinases are pharmaceutically highly active against a variety of diseases.